Thanks fellas, but this time it was all my fault. There are a couple sayings that I use a lot, and this time, I used them on myself.
1st- Don't put the cart before the horse.
2nd- A blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while.
I was way ahead of myself when I said that the coil springs were not going to work. I had forgotten the second most important component on the front suspension...the shocks. The shocks will limit the suspension droop and its max compression. I had already pulled off my lower coil mounts and re-arranged my suspension mounts. So I mounted my shocks like I was going to do anyway and I noticed the travel was much less than I was trying to give it. I modified my lower coil mount, put back in place, and added a couple coils. It works. Now I just need to get a softer coil and I think I will be set. I still need to adjust the links so my axle is level during the suspension cycle. There is enough compression in the springs that they are not going to fall outat max droop, but still easy enough to remove.

It's been a good while since I posted about the Cherokee, but for the most part, I have not done much with it until recently.
I made my body mounts which I think will work well. I wanted hidden mounts and I made my own versions of my favorites.

Styrene bolted to the grill and hidden by the grill decal

The mounting holes

The rear body mount

Rear mounting tab

I think it looks good.

Time for the gold

I went back and beefed up the suspension

Rear shock mounts and battery tray

Electronics installed

Servo installed

More decals

The first run!

And it is a runner and a fine one at that. I need to replace the Rancho red springs and replace them with some softer rated coils. The rear leaves are fine, but I may pull one out for a bit more flex. The end result is I wanted a version of my Cherokee if I had kept it and lifted it. Nothing to crazy, just a good running trail rig. I still need to trim the body, get another can if gold paint to finish the job, and start on the detail items (tire rack, roof rack, headlights, etc).

I have been jumping from project to project lately and I have been giving the XJ some love the last few days. As ingenius as I thought the hidden front body mount was, it was not going to let me mount a bumper up front. Things had to change and still be hidden. Here is attempt #2.
Now it has hooks!

And pegs too...

We're connected!

As far as the bumper is concerned, I don't care what it was made from. It is going to be a trail rig and not a crawler. The only purpose is to cover the servo and give me a place to mount the fairlead. The places I / my kids will probably run it is nothing more than a dry and sandy creek bed with lots of room. Bring on the styrene!

The backside

The front started

I took the middle one out and let him run the XJ and I think I got enough video to make a decent video :D

After looking over the Cherokee the other day, I noticed that the plastic suspension mounts were starting to crack. I knew they would, but I was hoping they would have lasted a bit longer. I used the originals for a template and made new mounts out of some old brackets I had. After that was done, I noticed that one of my leaf springs had popped out of its mount. I decided to go ahead and 4 link the rear and a few hours later, the Cherokee is ready for more trails with the boys. I also finished up the battery mount. Here is how it looks now.